As expected the Orioles placed Luke Scott on the disabled list today after he suffered a hamstring injury rounding the bases on a home run last night, but in a surprise move they replaced him on the roster by calling up Josh Bell rather than activating Felix Pie from the DL.
Bell was acquired from the Dodgers for George Sherrill in the middle of last season and has shown plenty of power at Triple-A with 10 homers and 24 doubles in 74 games, but the 23-year-old switch-hitter also batted just .266 with a sub par .311 on-base percentage and ghastly 75/18 K/BB ratio.
He’s in the lineup tonight, batting seventh and playing third base, with Miguel Tejada shifting to designated hitter after starting 72 of 77 games at the hot corner. Presumably if the Orioles can find a taker for Tejada between now and July 31 they’d love to move him, but with the first sub-.700 OPS of his career the 36-year-old looks just about finished.
Given his poor plate discipline and strike-zone judgment Bell seems likely to struggle in the short term, but he can’t be much worse than Tejada. Pie is now expected to come off the shelf Monday, at which point Tejada may have gone from starting third baseman to part-time DH. Assuming he hasn’t followed Garrett Atkins out the door by then.